🏏Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians,Match-33, Mullanpur, Chandigarh🏏

🏏Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians,Match-33, Mullanpur, Chandigarh🏏

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Only minor details separate Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians. Places seventh and eighth respectively in the standings due to a minute decimal-point difference in their NRR, both have four points in six games and are desperate for more as they hit the halfway mark in their IPL 2024 campaigns

Both are coming into the contest on the back of last-over defeats, except MI had regained a bit of momentum before going down to CSK despite Rohit Sharma's first IPL ton in 12 years.

Both have a stand-out pacer who's lacked consistent support at the other end. Jasprit Bumrah (ER 6.08) has proved difficult to put away even on days he's gone wicket-less, whereas PBKS have Kagiso Rabada (ER 7.95) hitting top form once again, which the opponents have been wary of. Both teams have a couple of batters doing the heavy lifting for the side - for the hosts, it's the uncapped duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma at the backend saving them the blushes and for MI it's their experienced opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan giving them blazing starts consistently.

Only once have MI scored under 50 runs in the PowerPlays this season.

The top run scorer for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League is Shikhar Dhawan with 152 runs to his name.

The top wicket taker for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League is Kagiso Rabada with 9 scalps under his belt.

Punjab Kings have lost their previous match against Rajasthan Royals by 3 wickets.

Punjab Kings batted first and they posted a modest total of 147 for 8 in 20 overs. The top order collapsed like a pack of cards. It was Ashutosh Sharma who provided some flurry towards the latter part of the innings and took Punjab Kings to 147.

During the chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal provided a great start to Rajasthan Royals. He scored 39 runs and looked determined to chase the total down despite wickets falling in regular succession at the other end. It was Shimron Hetmyer who hit the winning blow as Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets.

Current Form MI:

Mumbai Indians are currently placed at the 8th position on points table with 2 wins to their credit.

The top run scorer for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League is Rohit Sharma with 261 runs to his name.

The top wicket taker for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League is Jasprit Bumrah with 10 scalps under his belt.

Mumbai Indians have lost their previous match against Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs.

During the chase, Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma started off well but the middle order disappointed, throwing their wicket away. Rohit Sharma went on to score 105 runs but couldn't take his team home as Mumbai Indians fell short by 20 runs in the end.

Cricket Tips and Match Predictions* - PrePlay

Who will win the toss? – Punjab Kings

Who will win?- Mumbai Indians

Top Batter (Runs Scored) – Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Shashank Singh (Punjab Kings)

Top Bowler (Wickets taken) - Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians), Rahul Chahar (Punjab Kings)

Most Sixes – Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians), Shashank Singh (Punjab Kings)

Player of the Match- Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians)

Team Scores Batting first - Mumbai Indians 165+, Punjab Kings 155+

Disclaimer: These are only tentative predictions.

MI in fact are the third-best team in PowerPlays in IPL 2024, averaging 48 with a run-rate of 10.67 and the second-best boundary percentage of 29.2. They have also hit most sixes (23) in this phase.

However, after four straight games in the comforts of their home ground, the next track might not be as free-scoring. Mullanpur has been the lowest scoring venue in PowerPlays with a run rate of just 7.28 as compared to the season average of 9.18.

This is where the start from in-form MI openers will be imperative to the team's chances of getting back to winning ways, especially given their captain Hardik Pandya's indifferent form and Suryakumar Yadav's mixed-bag of a season since his return from injury.

On the contrary, Punjab's top-order troubles are well documented. Their top-three have aggregated just 382 runs, which is the lowest in IPL 2024, and the solitary 50+ knock has come from their captain Shikhar Dhawan's bat. However, his shoulder injury has compounded PBKS' batting woes.

Despite the unfavourable results though, Punjab haven't chopped and changed much this year, consistently backing the likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow and Jitesh Sharma to come good. With a better grasp of the conditions at the new home ground now, PBKS will be expecting their top-order to pull up their socks if they were to put their campaign back on track before it turns into another season of what-ifs.

PITCH REPORT

The match between MI and PBKS is set to take place at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur of Mohali. It is known for its assistance for the bowlers. Batters need to work hard for runs. They need to produce runs from their brilliance. Bowlers need to operate in accurate line and length and let the pitch do the rest. It is a slow surface, and toss might not be a big factor as the wicket does not break down as much.

40%

Pace Bowling

60%

Spin Bowling

What to expect: Dew hasn't made much of an appearance here, yet captains have preferred chasing at this venue. Expect the pacers to continue leading the charge in helpful conditions.

Head-to-Head: Mumbai have a marginal edge with 16-15 record against the Punjab outfit in 31 clashes. Since 2020 as well, MI vs PBKS have been tightly fought contests with MI leading 4-3.

Teams Watch

Punjab Kings

Injuries & Availability: Dhawan remains unavailable for at least the two remaining games at Mullanpur, whereas Jitesh Sharma, who played the last game despite a blow to the forehead and with more than a dozen stitches, seems fit enough to continue.

Tactics & Matchups: Hardik Pandya's poor form with the ball - among bowlers with 10+ overs this season his economy of 12 is second-worst - may make him an easy target for Punjab's finishers, who have been in good nick. Shashank has been going at the pacers with a strike-rate of 205.36 this IPL whereas Ashutosh, in his three knocks, has consistently struck above 182.

Probable XI: Jonny Bairstow, Atharva Taide, Sam Curran (C), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada [Impact sub: Prabhsimran Singh/Rahul Chahar]

Mumbai Indians

Injuries & Availability: No injury concerns to report in the MI camp.

Tactics & Matchups: Suryakumar Yadav vs Sam Curran is a budding rivalry and so far the MI batter has had the wood over the PBKS stand-in captain. Suryakumar has smashed 52 runs off the English allrounder in just 20 balls, at a strike-rate of 260, while conceding his wicket only once. However, he's in for an unfavourable match-up against Rabada on the other hand, averaging just a shade above 18 and losing his wicket thrice to the South Africa speedster.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Romario Shepherd, Shreyas Gopal, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal [Impact sub: Suryakumar Yadav]

Did you know?

- Rohit Sharma will become only the second player, after MS Dhoni, to play 250 IPL matches

- MI have lost both their away games this season - by six runs vs GT in Ahmedabad and by 31 runs vs SRH in Hyderabad.

- PBKS have made the fewest changes (4 in six matches) among all the teams so far in IPL 2024.

- While Suryakumar only averages 26.44 in away matches since IPL 2023, he scored fifties in both matches vs PBKS last edition.

Today’s Match Prediction: Mumbai Indians to win the match

Scenario 1

Punjab Kings win the toss and bat

Power Play score – 45-55

First Innings Score - 150-170

Mumbai Indians win the match

Scenario 2

Mumbai Indians win the toss and bat

Power Play score - 60-70

First Innings Score - 180-190

Mumbai Indians win the match

Disclaimer: The prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.

What they said:

"It's our time our top-order takes the responsbility. We've addressed the areas we need to look at to score runs. Also, coming into this wicket, it's a challenge for the batters [across teams]. It's unlike other wickets in India, it's a challenging wicket for every batter.

Especially for the visiting batters, because the nature of the composition is completely different. So, it's advantage for us I believe," - Sunil Joshi, PBKS spin bowling coach, on the top-order concerns

"I can tell you over 10 years of experience, or 10 years of friendship with him, he's really tough. And something like this is only going to motivate him. The way he's taking it so far has been tremendous and very inspiring for a lot of us. Seeing it on a daily basis is obviously not easy, but the guy is really, really strong and he's one of the toughest human beings going around in the world, and kudos to him for that. He's not let anything affect him personally," - Shreyas Gopal on how MI captain Hardik Pandya is coping with the criticism and booing

Pace or Spin?

The venue is suited for both Pacers and Spinners alike.

Batters: Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Tim David

All-Rounders: Sam Curran and Mohammad Nabi

Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Gerald Coetzee, Shreyas Gopal and Arshdeep Singh